RIM Ensures HTML 5 Happiness with TinyHippos Purchase

RIM (news, site) aims to ensure that its BlackBerry phones and upcoming PlayBook have top-notch apps by picking up tinyHippos, whose testing suite will help offer quality HTML 5 experiences.

Future-Proofing BlackBerry

The future for mobile webpages, in-browser apps and other web-related goodies seems to be tied into the final launch of HTML 5. So, it's only natural that the main players get their act together now, if not yesterday. So, RIM has jumped on the bus by acquiring cross-platform testing experts tinyHippos.

With the success of RIM's upcoming PlayBook essential to the company's future, web developers have to be sure of creating the best business apps, enterprise tools and widgets. TinyHippos was the creator of Ripple, a mobile application testing suite for web and HTML 5 that allows coders to inspect everything going on under the surface of their app.

TinyHippos can also emulate various phones and device resolutions, all on-the-fly. So, coders can check that an app works across a range of devices without the need to reset or relaunch. Ripple (in action below) is a Chrome extension and development will now presumably switch to an all-BlackBerry focus, although it will still be offered for existing users.

TinyHippos changed CEOs last year with Mark J. McArdle taking over. His experience at OpenText and McAfee should see him at home in the lofty world of RIM. With a simplified system for developers, creating better apps should be easier and RIM will be keep to bolt RIpple into its own BlackBerry WebWorks and other platforms.

Both tinyHippos and RIM are based in Waterloo, Ontario, so this is one takeover that won't take too much integration. And, with more resources at their disposal, the tinyHippos team should be able to refine Ripple even further.

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